Arcadia Bees
Nucs Queens About Nuc guide Forage Contact Join waitlist

Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 38.1294, -108.2911

Estimated forage here is better than about 97% of sites in Colorado. Against other Colorado sites it stands out most in summer (99th percentile) and lowest in fall (54th). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (nearest 0.2 mi N, grown 4 of the last 5 years); dry beans (nearest 1.0 mi SE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, 0.21 mi N.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 76th percentile (spring 41st, summer 86th, fall 75th)
  • Colorado: 97th percentile (spring 61st, summer 99th, fall 54th)
  • Colorado Plateaus: 99th percentile (spring 95th, summer 100th, fall 92nd)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Colorado, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jul 1 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,807 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 1,815 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.2 mi S, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 248 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.2 mi N, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 120 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 153 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.8 mi NE, blooms early Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 50 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.4 mi NW, blooms early Jul – late Aug

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Spotted and diffuse knapweed, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Alfalfa, Dandelion; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Spotted and diffuse knapweed; white

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

An estimate from public maps (USDA crop maps 2021-2025 averaged, LANDFIRE vegetation), not a survey of the ground. Maps can't see garden plantings, understory density, other beekeepers' hives, or this year's weather. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.